Try Something New!!

Ok, so last weekend was a good friend of mines stagette. They had a fun weekend planned and one of the events was chair dancing! Sounded interesting and I thought why the hell not! I lost 110 lbs I'm sure I am more than capable to walk around a chair and do some flirty hip moves...

There was so much more to it than flirty hip moves. Stand on the chair she says, squat she says, booty pop she says, lay on the chair and swing your legs up she says. Whattttttt!? I did the moves and in the pictures you will see my terrified face when I am squatting on the chair. Going through my mind is "this chair is going to snap" I'm going to be the fatty that snaps the chair, god dammit I never signed up for this!! Ha ha it's hilarious now that I think of it, now that I came away from it without breaking the chair. 



It was something so new for me, something totally out of my comfort zone, but I had so much fun doing it. I think back to last year at this time and I would have never been able to do something like that. The chair would have for sure broke. Actually it wouldn't have because I would have made up some type of an excuse not to go. It's amazing what loosing weight does to a person's self confidence, social life, relationships and friendships. When you live in that overweight bubble you honestly do not know what you missing. Missing out on love, I never knew before, now I couldn't live without Nick. Missing out on fun activities, missing out on being able to sign up for everything with no fear. I recently signed up to play on a baseball team this summer. That is totally new for me. All I'm asking is please baby Jesus let me still have my pearly whites by the time the season is over. I'm sure I'll come away with a few bruises but it wont be from my weight, it'll be from the fact that I am a very uncoordinated sports person. I'm a klutz. I'm ok with that though, I hope everyone else on the team is. :)

I also have a lot less fat covering my bones and you know I miss that cushion a little. I get really uncomfortable sitting on wooden chairs for too long. Even sitting on a couch my tail bone starts to hurt, I never really had a sore tail bone before. I also get really uncomfortable sleeping on my side because my knee bones crush together and it hurts! I know you skinny people are probably saying, my knee bones have always touched and I'm fine. That's all well and good when you have lived with that your whole life. I always had cushion, now I do not! Felt my ass bone for the first time last month. Never even knew I had an ass bone. I thought it was just all ass cheek. Nope! Collar bones, shoulder bones, neck bones, I've got all those to! These new discoveries have been amazing but an adjustment. It wasn't until the other day I was in a furniture store and I walked by a mirror and I took a second look and then looked at Nick and said "holy shit I've lost a lot of weight hey"?! He looks at me like I'm crazy and says of course you have!! 


Some days its a total mind warp. I can't get it into my head that I have changed. I know I have, I see it in the mirror most days, I see it in the clothes that I buy even the brands that I buy. Brands I would have never fit into before because they were "skinny girl clothes", but I fit into them now!

It's amazing what you can do when you make that change. When you put your mind to it! 110lbs and I don't regret one single one! Find it in yourself to try something different. Summer's coming, the winter blues are over! Get out there even if it's to jump a couple puddles!! :)

Hugs & Glitter,

Chanty

I saved how many calories??

So recently I have been trying to find alternatives to ice cream. I am a HUGE ice cream lover. It is quite possibly my favorite food group. I know it's not something I should be eating, especially with these beautiful f**k*** gallstones that have inhibited my gallbladder. It's so rich and high in fat, it immediately gives me an attack. So last night I had a major craving for an Oreo blizzard. Seems all I have to do is drive by DQ on hwy 16 and I have a craving or hear someone utter the word blizzard and it sets off that craving in my mind. I know it's silly because it's just a blizzard but once somethings on my mind, its hard to get out of it. I can be quite stubborn, and if I want something I want it right now. I think that's an only child thing. :)

I always have these thinsation cookies at home in case I get a craving for something bad, I can have a few of those without breaking my fitness pal calculator. Last night I decided to whip up a little something that I thought would taste the most like a blizzard or milkshake. I was right! I mixed up 1/2 cup of unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 3 ice cubes and half a pack of Oreo thinsations. Blended it all up in my magic bullet and it was so refreshing!!

Once I actually did the comparison to a small Oreo blizzard I actually wanted to vomit. It's something I definitely took for granted before I lost 110lbs. Oh sure I'll have a blizzard, I need to treat myself. Well that once a week treat in the summer time turns into a nightly thing and my god when you look at what you are putting in your body its disgusting! I saved myself 480 calories, 16.8 grams of fat, 40mg of cholesterol and 71 carbs by mixing up my little milkshake and avoiding the blizzard. That was only a small blizzard, when I think back to what I used to have a medium probably. It's unreal. I know checking calories on everything before you eat it is not regular practice for everyone. I know I never did. But wow if you just take a minute to look up something and actually see the stats on what you are putting in your body you might think twice. We all deserve a little treat once in a while, life is too short to not enjoy it, I fully believe that. That little shake I made was actually so satisfying I didn't need that blizzard anymore. It hit my craving on its head, tasted refreshing and I never felt like a bag-o-shit after eating it. On this picture below, the left hand side is the nutrition information for a small Oreo blizzard, the right is my nutrition information for my homemade shake. I know this wasn't a genius idea and I'm not the first one to think of it i'm sure but I needed to share it for the fact of seeing the difference between the regular and the slightly modified version of foods.



I am going to make it a point to start posting more recipes that I have altered. I am constantly changing recipes I find on Pinterest or wherever to be healthier, lower in fat especially and lower in carbs.

This summer I am going to keep the almond milk and ice stocked and mix up some meal replacement shakes by adding my protein powder.





Hugs & Glitter,

Chanty

Easier you say? Cheaper you say? Speaking out on the Misconceptions of WLS!

With this recent article that CBC Edmonton posted about out of country weight loss surgery, I felt compelled to give my opinion on the other side of the story. While I don’t have any affiliations with the company mentioned or understand the patient in the articles complications, as I had none, I can understand the need for a regulatory screening of out of country weight loss clinics. Many people are going to fly by the night surgeons in Mexico and they are not doing their research.

My choice to get surgery out of the country was not due to it being cheaper or easier. It is actually quite the opposite. The cost of sleeve surgery in Alberta can essentially be free if you are willing to follow the doctors recommendations, be put on a monitoring period of approximately 2 years, then after that is complete and they decide to do your surgery (there’s still the chance they will deny you) you are then put on a waiting list for approximately 2 years. It was potentially going to be 5 or more years for me to wait and maybe get the surgery done in Canada. I of course spent a year researching places to get out of country surgery. I discovered Weight Loss Forever and Dr. Pompa who practices at an International Center of Excellence Hospital that has been accredited by the Surgical Review Corporation. There was no doubt in my mind when a friend of mine had had surgery there and after researching the surgeon’s credentials that I would get Dr. Pompa to do my surgery. The decision became easier when I could save my life in the next couple of months instead of waiting for 5 years.

Research is so important when choosing to have out of country surgery. I was put through a very intense medical screening before I was even approved for surgery. The Medical screening was done with the help of my Lloydminster family doctor and also by my surgeon and a team of highly trained doctors. There were certain protocols in place for before and after my surgery and a list of strict guidelines to follow to avoid complications.

What this article left out was the medical complications of someone being over 300lbs. I was headed towards diabetes, heart disease, immobility, depression and a few other things that being severely overweight would have caused. What about the years of being diabetic or having heart failure, what does that cost the Alberta government? What about the repeated diets I have been on, that completely ruined my metabolism? What about all the costs of failed gym memberships? It all added up to a number I couldn’t fathom not to mention the further damage to my body. I now go the doctor every 6 months and my blood levels have always been normal, everything came back with a clean bill of health, besides developing gallstones, which women have a high percentage of developing over the course of their lives.

There are also so many misconceptions of weight loss surgery. The first being that it’s taking the easy way out. I don’t think anyone without a weight issue will truly understand the commitment it takes to loosing weight. It definitely has not been the easy way out for me. I got surgery to aid in my weight loss as I was severely obese. I also got surgery so that once I lost the weight; I would keep it off and stay healthy. I wouldn’t go back to being overweight. It takes work to loose the weight and maintain it. I have to be active, I have to eat right, choose the healthier option all the time. I no longer put garbage in my body. The psychological toll being overweight takes on your mind is also something that is not easy to deal with. I still see the fat girl in the mirror. Try as I might it is hard sometimes to wrap my mind around the fact I am a different person now. The happiness I feel day to day sometimes doesn’t seem real. The years of teasing and being made fun, being the butt of someone’s fat joke, you still feel like that person. I think people are quick to forget what an overweight person goes through and while I wouldn’t want anyone’s pity, its important for people to understand that no part of a weight loss journey is easy. Going into stores is still not easy, I still want to try on the biggest size they have and I still avoid certain stores in fear I will feel like shit after leaving them because nothing will fit me in there. I didn’t have 50-80lbs to loose when I applied for surgery I have more along the lines of 150lbs to loose if I want to be in a somewhat healthy weight range according to statistics set up by the Canadian government. Another misconception of weight loss surgery is that you don’t eat after you get it done. I actually had a lady say that to me the other day, I said I had sleeve surgery and she said “oh, is that where you don’t eat?” Ahh nope! I do eat. A typical day for me would be:

Breakfast:

¼-1/2 cup of cereal with unsweetened Almond Milk or a protein shake with fruit mixed in.

I also like to have a greek yogurt (full) with some Special K granola the odd time for breakfast.

Lunch:

I usually have whatever is leftover from supper. A 4oz piece of meat and some veggies and a bit of brown rice. Sometimes I’ll make half an English muffin with some tuna salad on top.

Today I have a half of a low fat ham sandwich!

Supper:

Everything I cook my boyfriend also eats. I usually cook on the healthier side of things but I make regulars like chicken cauliflower fried rice (a fav of mine), chili, tuna casserole, taco’s, enchiladas, stews & breakfast for supper.

Snacks:

I have not given up my snacks. I choose healthy snacks but I still do snack between meals when I am at work.

I will have fruit or a fat free cheese slice with some triscuits or sometimes I have a packet of 100 calorie snacks like bits and bites or chocolate pretzels.

I find my life to be very normal day to day. Yes there are sometimes I wish I could eat more when something is really good, but my relationship with food has changed completely. For a lot of people this is the biggest problem after weight loss surgery. It’s something you have to be prepared with before hand. You will never eat a full fast food meal again, but do you need to be doing that anyways?

Without out of country weight loss surgery I don’t know where I would be right now. It’s not something I want to think about. I am so very glad I made the decision I did to do it, and there is not a day that I regret it. It saved my life.

As always,

Hugs & Glitter,

Chanty

Sky Drippin' Rhinestones, Baby Get Your Shine On!

So for my birthday, my boyfriend said to me, the best gift I can give you right now is to take you to the Weight Loss Forever Gala, buy you a new dress and let you show your hard work off. He was so right! Everything from buying a non-black dress, something I’ve never done before to walking on stage in front of a bunch of people was the best gift I could receive at this point in my journey. It was amazing to see all of the unreal transformations, hear the stories of the other sleevers and their journey’s. It was such an inspiring night. It’s amazing what you can do when you are given a gift. My first gift to myself was of course my sleeve. Without it I could not have achieved what I have so far since that day in April.

I was able to see my surgeon this weekend and she said something that summed up my journey. She said she loves seeing the light inside of us go back on. She is so right. I have a new light in my eyes, my cheeks and my smile. My smile even looks whiter! Maybe that’s from my cleaning and checkup last week but still, its there. That light inside of me is illuminated so bright, there’s no way I could hide it. I know part of my light is from my wonderful boyfriend. He is certainly responsible for part of my genuine smile and the light in my eyes. There are a few other people out there that are responsible for my renewed smile. Everyone who has been apart of my journey. Everyone who gives me constant encouragement and everyone that tells me I am an inspiration. It’s something I never aspired to be. I’ve always tried to blend into the background. Wear black so my thighs or stomach would look smaller. I know now there will be no more blending into the background, no more hiding behind black. Just put me in the front row and let me shine! It’s silly but sometimes when I smile, I feel so happy that I feel like I have high beams coming out of my teeth! Haha. I hope everyone can dig deep and find their own light, if its recently gone out. There are so many things that can turn your light back on, eating healthy, doing better at your job, rekindling or repairing relationships, getting a little more active or simply by enjoying the things you have in your life. It’s so easy to automatically think of the negative first but I encourage you to think of the positives first. The negatives will always be there but you don’t have to let them dim your light.

Thank you all for helping me change my light bulb! :) <--100W smile

Hugs & Glitter,

Chanty